GRANDE BAIE, Mauritius, July 13: Poor nations insisted on Tuesday that cotton remain a special topic in global trade talks, signalling a tough stance in key negotiations later this month on liberalizing world commerce, delegates said.

"After much discussion we have decided to leave cotton as a stand-alone issue," said one of the delegates at a meeting of poor nations on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius.

Another delegate from a developing country said: "I think this is dangerous as it could be a deal breaker in the July talks in Geneva. The West African countries have dug in their heels and to remain unified we will support but we are disappointed as it could derail the Geneva talks."

Cotton has been a stumbling block between rich and poor nations in negotiations to get the stalled talks back on track. Trade ministers from the G90 bloc of poor countries are in Mauritius to try to forge a consensus on multilateral trade.

Poor nations have long said cotton's importance for poor West African farmers means it must be a special case, and not wrapped into a package where it would be subject to the vagaries of negotiations on corn or soybeans.

Negotiators are under pressure to get at least an outline pact on liberalizing world trade by the end of July at a Geneva meeting of all World Trade Organization (WTO) members, and cotton has often been cited as a potential deal-breaker.

Rich nation officials reply that singling out cotton in this way might made it hard politically to sell a deal back home. Delegates say wealthy nations are willing to treat cotton as a priority, but poor producers want a commitment in writing. -Reuters